Flying Home
by run with the doctor
Summary: Jaina Solo, Jedi Knight of the New Republic, finds herself in the past, an active member of the Rebel Alliance.
1. Echo Base

**FLYING HOME**

 _Chapter I: Echo Base_

* * *

Jaina looked around her in shock. One moment she'd been standing in the Jedi Archives on Shedu Maad, the next she was in a large hangar she didn't recognise, with X-Wing starfighters dotted around the floor, being fuelled by people in grey overalls and crewed by unknown pilots in orange.

At least none of them gave her a second glance as they ran past her. She gave thanks to the Force that she'd decided to wear her orange battle overalls today — although she should really hide her lightsaber.

" _The first transport is away. The first transport is away_."

A loud cheer filled the hangar as every person celebrated the news. Jaina's forehead creased, her eyebrows drawing together, as she surveyed the scene before her.

" _Rogue Squadron is preparing to take off to engage the Imperials. Sword Squadron to escort transports out of system to the rendezvous point. The second transport is departing."_

It made sense now. Somehow, she'd landed in a different time, in the middle of the Rebellion. It was after Yavin IV, she calculated, because Rogue Squadron existed. The squadron she commanded in her own time…

 _Rogue Squadron!_ The realisation hit her like a laser-blast, and she scanned the hangar for an unattended X-Wing. _I'm not sitting out of this one while the Rogues fight._ Setting her jaw, she began to run, helmet in hand, lightsaber at her hip, towards the one-man starfighter. Only one member of the ground crew was anywhere near, and she shouted as she pulled her helmet on, "Hey! Prep for takeoff!"

The crew member's eyes widened as he spotted the symbol of the Rogues on her helmet, and he swung to obey her. Jaina scaled the ladder at surprising speed, considering that this fighter was years before the model she knew.

At the flip of a switch the starfighter hummed to life, an R2 unit settling itself in behind her. As she laid one hand on the targeting computer and wrapped the other around the joystick, she felt exhilaration flow through her. _This is what I was born to do. I was born to fly._

" _The second transport is away. The second transport is away._ "

This time the cheer, while no less enthusiastic, was muted, with less people in the hangar. Behind her, Jaina's new R2 unit beeped and squeaked to let her know they were primed for takeoff.

The starfighter lifted, the wheels retracting as the crewmember who'd helped her sprang back and tossed a salute her way before retreating. She turned the fighter towards the open shield doors, her other hand quickly programming into the computer the codes for the Rogue Squadron comm. Hopefully it hadn't been changed after the Rebellion.

Chatter flooded her headset, the fighter shooting out of the hangar and into bright sunlight. All below was snow, a trench nearby filled with Rebels who were manning the ground defence. Beyond, she spotted the recognizable shape of a shield generator. A third transport was moving ever upward, two fighters on either side, presumably members of Sword Squadron.

" _Rogue Squadron, this is Rogue Leader. Report_." To her shock, the familiar voice of Uncle Luke cut through her observations. However, she had no time to ruminate, as each member of the squadron rapped out their callsign. She needed to concentrate, so she wouldn't break her cover; she was hoping against hope that Rogue Eleven didn't exist in this time. That was her callsign.

" _Rogue Eleven_." Damn.

There was a small gap, and she realised that was her cue. "Rogue Twelve." Knowing that they would question a twelfth Rogue, she added hurriedly, "I was put on at the last minute. They had odd numbers escorting the transports."

" _Copy that, Rogue Twelve. Stick tight. All flights close up, hawkshead formation. We've got company_."

Jaina smiled. The hawkshead formation was a timeless maneuvre which never failed to work each time. For that reason, it had outlasted the Rebellion and the ever-changing face of the Rogues. Legend said that it was Luke Skywalker who, after the Battle of Yavin, had come up with the maneuvre to dodge small TIE fighters.

The smile slipped off her face as the enemy came into view. R2 tweedled anxiously, and she blurted out, "Are those _Imperial Walkers_?! AT-ATs?" They were the stuff of legend also, although unlike her uncle's genius as a Rebel, they were barely talked about.

" _Fraid so_." The grim tone of a younger Wedge Antilles pierced her headset. " _They're going to be hard to bring down. Any ideas, Rogue Leader?_ "

" _We assault them head-on first and assess their shield and armour capability,"_ decided Uncle Luke. _"Then we decide what the next move is._ "

R2 told Jaina that they were less than a standard kilometre from the walkers and closing. Her targeting computer had all three in its sights: she selected the middle one and locked on. It surprised her that her hand was shaking. Yuuzhan Vong were nothing; bounty hunters were nothing. This was a new enemy, and for the first time she didn't know how they would react.

 _If only pretending to be Yun-Harla again would work on these guys._

The Imperials, however, did not believe in religion — they served a higher entity: the Force. They fought on behalf of its servants. Darth Vader and the Emperor.

 _My grandfather's alive. He's a Sith._

" _Everything fine, Twelve_?" She should have known Uncle Luke would sense her worry, and she closed herself off in the Force. " _We'll find a way to bring them down._ "

"Copy that, Leader. Primed and in the green."

As Uncle Luke told the squadron to pre-load their laser guns, she was reminded of something her father had told her when she was young and learning to fly. _You don't know what you can do until you get it up as high as you can go._

"Here we go," she muttered, the hand which had been manipulating the targeting computer now coming to rest on the trigger joystick. "Here goes nothing."

And before she knew it, she was flying through a barrage of red lasers, her fighter swooping and rolling as she dodged the walker's fire and returned her own. In her peripheral vision, she noticed as she flew between two of them that their fire only seemed to bounce off the grey armoured plating.

In her headset several Rogues were shouting for assistance. Rogue Eleven had heat-seeking fire locked on to his tail, and Jaina came around to assist. " _Thanks, Twelve. I would have been bantha fodder if you hadn't come in when you did_."

"Don't overthink it, Eleven. Leader, what's the go?"

" _Coming around for another pass. Attack pattern delta._ "

This was another formation Jaina knew, and she automatically closed up with Rogue Eleven, the other fighter tight on her right wing. When they were nearly over Echo Base, they turned again towards the walkers. Up ahead, Uncle Luke was dodging fire, the walkers strafing the air around the squadron.

" _This is Rogue Seven, I'm hit! Can't bail!_ " Before anyone could respond, the comm erupted into static, and then nothing. Jaina bit her lip as she banked to the left to avoid the fireball which had been Rogue Seven. At home, Rogue Seven was Myn Donos. He'd died in the war against the Vong.

There was no time to waste as Jaina and her new wingmate went on their second attack run, skimming the ground in an attempt to find a weak spot in the walkers further down.

Still no luck, and Jaina cursed as she regained altitude. There had to be some way to take these things down. It had been done before, in her time — but how? That was the part of the story which Uncle Luke always left out.

" _Rogue Three, come in_."

" _Copy, Rogue Leader_."

" _Wedge, I've lost my gunner. You'll have to make this shot. I'll cover for you. Set your harpoon. Follow me on the next pass_."

Her uncle was smart, even at twenty-two. He was counting on taking out the walkers using the one method they weren't expecting — ropes. If the middle walker fell, perhaps that would set the others back a bit.

With her uncle and Wedge aiming for the middle, Jaina set the right walker in her sights. R2 beeped something about her targeting computer, and she waved the comment aside with a monosyllabic response. Time to return to Belt-Runner I.

Closing her eyes, Jaina sank into the Force, letting it guide her. In her mind's eye, the walker's weak spots pulsated: the 'knees' of the AT-AT where the armour periodically parted to show the metal innards within. She tuned out the chatter over her comm, her trigger hand easing the joystick to line up her guns. Four hundred metres and closing.

At two hundred metres, she fired two quick bursts into each of the walker's front legs before spiralling up into the blue sky above. She came to herself and righted the starfighter just in time to see the walker below blow into flames, falling to its front knees and then crashing to one side. It was done.

" _Nice shot, Twelve_ ," came a congratulatory cry from her headset, and she smiled. _First kill of this era._

The middle walker was also down and out, courtesy of Uncle Luke and Wedge. Somehow, even without his gunner, Uncle Luke seemed to be perfectly all right. He was rapping out orders for the remaining Rogues to close up and concentrate on the third walker. It would be aiming for the shield generator.

 _"_ _Rogues, Echo Base has just informed me the final two transports are departing. We need to hold off the walkers until the transports are away._ " True to his word, the large form of the final transports were lifting off, four fighters flanking them. All the infantry in the trench were gone, either killed or on the transports. It was down to the Rogues now.

They flew as a group over the trench, before banking and creating a V-formation for the final pass. As much as Jaina wanted to use the Force to take this one down, she knew what happened here. She had to let history take its course.

Again the walker fired, and Wes Janson banked once, before being hit in one wing and excusing himself to make a crash-landing so he could repair. Uncle Luke returned fire, before his frantic voice came through the comm, " _I've been hit_!"

As much as she wanted to help, Jaina held back. Her uncle's fighter was angling towards the ground before the walker, and she looked away as it impacted. She fired again and again, deliberately aiming at the armoured plating. This was Uncle Luke's to take down.

History dictated what happened next: having climbed out of his fighter free and clear moments before it was flattened by the walker, Uncle Luke, a small figure in orange overalls, released a harpoon and let it carry him up to the underside of the walker. He fumbled for a moment at his belt, and she saw his blue saber ignite and he slashed at the armour.

He threw something small inside and then detached, landing in the snow with a soft _thud_. For a moment, he gave the oncoming Rogues a thumbs-up, before gesturing wildly in the opposite direction. _Get out._

The walker fired one last time at the shield generator, managing a successful hit before Uncle Luke's grenade did its work. Fire blossomed out of the walker's sides, and it barely hesitated before swaying to one side and falling with an almighty crash.

In Jaina's headset, the Rogues cheered. A low, dark remark came from the voice which belonged to Rogue Ten. " _For Alderaan_." It hit her then: her mother's homeworld had only been destroyed three years before. The loss was still fresh for its people and for the Alliance.

Wedge gave a quick command to land and regroup nearby the now-obliterated Echo Base, and as Jaina swung to obey she caught sight of a well-known YT-1300 zooming out of the ruins and into the skies, rear shield deflectors on at full power. From the stories, she knew that her father, mother and Chewie were on board, beginning the fateful flight to Bespin.

She landed, powering down her fighter with a sigh and lifting the cockpit. It was a lot more cramped than she remembered, but she supposed that was because the majority of starfighters these days were built for a crew of two.

Climbing down the ladder, she was accosted by a human man in the same orange overalls as she. "Rogue Twelve?" When she nodded, he seized her hand in his firm grip. "I'm Eleven. You saved my bacon out there."

"Nonsense." She could not help herself from smiling. "We're wingmates. I'm supposed to help you."

He released her hand, and she removed her helmet, shaking out her brown hair. "What's your name?"

"Fabian Parry. You?"

They were walking towards where the rest of the group was assembled, including Uncle Luke, who had been retrieved by Wedge. "Jaina." Somehow, she thought giving her full name would raise too many questions. Safer to just be _Jaina_ for the moment.

Uncle Luke looked up as they approached, his young face creasing as he smiled. "Hello, Rogues. Good work out there. We'll take a couple of hours to rest, refuel and repair, before we take off for the rendezvous."

Jaina knew that Uncle Luke would set course for Dagobah, rather than the rendezvous.

And she was going with him. To see Yoda.

There were questions to be answered.


	2. The Mists of Dagobah

_Chapter II: The Mists of Dagobah_

* * *

"There's nothing wrong, Artoo," Luke told his astromech droid, fingers flying over the navigation computer. "I'm just setting a new course. We're not going to regroup with the others." He paused, reading Artoo's exclamation on the control panel. "We're going to the Dagobah system."

" _And I'm coming with you_ ," a female voice broke in over the fighter-to-fighter comm. It took him a moment, but he realised it was the pilot who'd joined the Rogues at the last moment. Rogue Twelve.

"You need to rendezvous with the others," Luke told her. "I'll see you at Haven."

The girl was silent for a moment, and Luke thought she must be taking his words to heart. However, she piped up again. " _It's too long a story to tell. I need to come with you to Dagobah. To see Yoda_."

 _Yoda? How does she know about Yoda?_

However she knew, that didn't matter now. If she knew about Yoda, then she was important somehow to the Rebel Alliance. "Well, all right then. What's your name? I'm Luke Skywalker."

" _I know_." He detected amusement in her voice. " _Favourite target of Darth Vader. My name's Jaina._ " She did not offer up a surname, but Luke decided not to press the matter. Somehow her dry humour reminded him of Han, whose current whereabouts he did not know — nor Leia's. He'd seen the _Millennium Falcon_ take off with TIE fighters in hot pursuit, and Han would not risk going to the rendezvous if the Imperials were on his tail.

After checking with Jaina that the coordinates for the Dagobah system were in her navigation computer, the two fighters veered away from the Hoth system on their way to meet the Jedi Master.

* * *

Their landing had been eventful, Luke reflected. The atmosphere was thickly shrouded with heavy mist, so much so that even scanning equipment could not pick up hazards and objects in their way. It was a mercy he and Jaina had come down onto a soft lake-bed rather than solid ground. Not even Jedi could survive a crash on solid ground from atmospheric entry.

They sat on crates beside a small lantern, which Artoo was hooked up to. After his fall into the mud, the droid was once again in high spirits, rocking back and forth on his legs and swivelling the dome of his body with much enthusiasm. Jaina's R2 was back with the fighters, keeping watch. They'd agreed it would be too confusing to have two R2-D2s.

Although… when they'd waded to shore, Luke swore he'd heard Jaina call the droid Arfour. There was no way he'd heard her correctly. R3s weren't even off the manufacturing line, let alone R4s. R4s didn't even exist.

"So… why are you here to see Yoda?" She bit into a ration bar, grimacing at the taste. "A bit out of the way, isn't it? Especially for the leader of the Rogues."

He shrugged. How could he explain it? "I was sent here, by my old Jedi Master." A twinge of pain slashed through him, and he winced. "He died three years ago, but my training wasn't finished. There was another Master in hiding. Here."

The female pilot's chocolate-brown eyes scanned their surroundings. "Pretty weird, thinking that a Jedi Master would retire here. This place isn't much to speak of."

"It's probably the reason he came here, to be honest. Do you—" he hesitated. The girl before him wasn't someone he was familiar with, but if she had come to see Yoda she must know the history of the Jedi at least. "Order 66 forced him into exile."

Her face was grim. "The Jedi Purges."

"Unexpected, they were." Both Luke and Jaina swung around to see a little green elf in tan-coloured robes, leaning on a miniature walking-stick, standing on one of their crates, blinking owlishly at them. His ears were pointy and his eyes large and round.

Luke lunged forward. "Get off there. That's our rations."

The elf sidestepped mildly. "Lived here without your rations for years, I have. Calm, young Skywalker."

"You're Yoda!" Jaina breathed, awed. Luke simply stared at the elf. If the pilot was right, they were in the presence of one of the galaxy's most famed and most powerful Jedi. The Jedi Grand Master.

"I — I am sorry, Master," he stammered out. "I was not aware."

"Forgive you, I do. No room for grudges, is there." The Jedi Master hopped off the crate, waddling in the direction opposite to the starfighters. "Come with me, you must. Fire. Warmth." His voice floated back to the two Rebels still standing in the clearing. Resigned, Luke and Jaina exchanged a glance, before Jaina shrugged and moved to unplug Artoo.

Ten standard minutes later they were ducking to get inside a small igloo fashioned from bark, Artoo in tow. Yoda was already within, stirring a pot which looked remarkably big for so small a being to handle. Nervously, Luke and Jaina took their seats by a small table barely clearing their knees. After finishing his ministrations, Yoda joined them, sitting opposite and watching them with his appraising stare.

There was a rustling sound outside the small igloo, and Jaina's violet saber was out and lit before she knew it, her breath coming in short, sharp bursts, her body primed for defence. Yoda chuckled.

"The Force is strong with this one. Not so quick, young Jedi. Nothing to see on Dagobah, is there."

Luke stared at the girl. "You're a Jedi?" He hadn't seen her saber before; in truth, he hadn't thought to look at her belt. It was pretty clear that he was the last of the Jedi… but perhaps not.

Sheepishly, Jaina hooked her saber back onto her belt, retaking her seat, her gaze flicking between Luke and Yoda. "I suppose I'd better tell you my story, then."

The old Jedi Master rose to rekindle the fire, saying over his shoulder, "Please, young Jedi. Enlighten us."

"Settle in. This'll be a long story." Jaina took a deep breath. "My name is Jedi Knight Jaina Solo. I was born in 9 ABY on Coruscant to Han Solo and his wife." When Luke started, she added, "I know, I know. My mother is Force-sensitive, and so is my uncle. They're both Jedi. My brothers and myself are Jedi Knights of the New Republic." A shadow crossed her face. "Were. My youngest brother is one with the Force."

"Sorry to hear that, I am," said Yoda gently. "From the future, are you? Hmm. Always in motion, the future is." His large eyes came to rest on Luke. "A New Republic, there is. A New Jedi Order, there is. Have hope."

Jaina ventured, "I know Luke Skywalker — the you of the future, that is. He always calls himself 'the last of the old, and the first of the new.' He founded the Order."

The subsequent pride that washed through the Force from Yoda brought a smile to both Luke and Jaina's faces. Then she said quietly, "I don't know why I was sent back. At home, they call me the Sword of the Jedi. It's what I was named upon my Knighting at eighteen, and the name has stuck."

Yoda's face became troubled. "What you were told, tell me."

Her chocolate-brown eyes fixing on the fire behind the Jedi Master, Jaina recited impassively, "' _I name you Sword of the Jedi. You are like tempered steel, purposeful and razor-keen. Always you shall be in the front rank, a burning brand to your enemies, a brilliant fire to your friends. Yours is a restless life, and never shall you know peace, though you shall be blessed for the peace that you bring to others. Take comfort in the fact that, though you stand tall and alone, others take shelter in the shadow that you cast_."

Reciting Luke's words of several years earlier still reminded Jaina of the disastrous fallout from the Myrkr mission. Only Anakin, out of the three Solo children, had not attained Knighthood. The Force had claimed him for its own before that could happen. The three rising notes of the trumpet, calling the newly-branded Jedi Knights to their destiny, reminded her of an ode to the fallen.

She raised her head and looked at both of her companions. Her uncle looked stunned, whilst Yoda's green face was indecipherable. Finally, the old Jedi Master said, "A burden, that is. However, manage it you will. I sense it in the Force. Stand with you, the Order does."

"Thank you, Master." Jaina offered him another weak smile. "It has been hard."

Yoda turned to Luke. "Come here for training, you did. Train you, I will. But be patient, you must."

This was meant to happen. Uncle Luke had told Jaina the story of his instruction on Dagobah, and Yoda's reluctance to take him under his wing. Jaina knew, although neither of her companions did not, that Uncle Luke would leave here with his training unfinished and would face his father unprepared. Here, Uncle Luke was the only one not aware of his true ancestry.

 _He finds out in… a month? It's going to be rough._

* * *

Somewhere, somehow, Yoda had sourced for Jaina a remote to train with. Since jumping backwards in time, her skills needed work. Flying was the only thing she'd done recently, and her lightsaber needed to become comfortable in her hand again.

She stood at the edge of the swamp, saber in one hand, flight helmet tucked under the other arm and resting on her hip, the remote hovering before her. Several hundred metres away, Uncle Luke was attempting to use his mind to lift R2-D2, who was beeping nervously. It was odd, seeing her uncle so bereft of the skill she knew he possessed. For the first time, she was more experienced and higher ranked than he, and it was a disconcerting thought.

Shaking her head, Jaina shook her brown hair out and slid on her flight helmet, flipping down the opaque visor which was built-in to protect her eyes from foreign objects. Her thumb toggled the button on her lightsaber handle, and it came to life with a _snap-hiss_. For a second she closed her eyes, then shook her head impatiently and opened them again. What was the point with an opaque visor?

Once again, as she had done back on Hoth, she allowed the Force to surround her and overwhelm her. Yoda's calm, steadying voice faded as she focused, trying to find the bright spot that was the remote. Her lightsaber was held out before her, both hands gripping the handle. She was home.

The bright spot moved, and she followed it; it darted again, and she sensed the zap before it came, her lightsaber leaping to deflect it. The very first time she'd played this game had been on Yavin IV at the Jedi Praxeum set up by her uncle. She and her twin had been ten, in their second week at the Academy, and she still remembered Jacen's howl the first time the remote struck him.

She hissed now as a zap touched her wrist. Distraction was never a good thing. It led to fallacies, and fallacies were the path to the Dark Side.

 _Grandmother was Vader's fallacy. His distraction. His love for her blinded him to Palpatine's true nature. Saving her was his one goal, and he was easy bait for Darth Sidious._

Jaina slashed again, blocking another zap. It was getting easier with each passing second to fall back into her old training methods. Another parry, and she reached out with one hand, using the Force to manipulate the switch on the remote and turn it off.

As she pushed her visor up, blinking to accommodate for the change in light sensitivity, she saw Uncle Luke now attempting to levitate a stern Yoda atop R2-D2, and she stifled a laugh. _Yoda may be the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy, but he's a pretty comical character sitting on Artoo_.

* * *

"I have to go." Uncle Luke's voice, although stern, wavered ever so slightly. "They're my friends."

"Unprepared are you," Yoda said gently. "Unfinished, is your training."

"I'll come back," her uncle swore. "I'll come back and finish my training, Master. I promise. But I must go now."

The Jedi Grand Master sighed. "Very well." He gestured for Jaina to approach him, leaving Uncle Luke to prepare his fighter for takeoff. "Lose sight of your goal, do not, Sword of the Jedi," he told Jaina. "Remember the Skywalker in you, you must." Jaina reeled, stunned. The Jedi Master knew about her and who she was. "Do not look so surprised. 900 years have I had to study the ways of the Force."

"I won't forget," Jaina promised him. "Thank you for training me. I needed it."

Giving Yoda a quick nod, she made tracks for her own fighter, resting beside Luke's. Her own R2 droid was already established, running the scanning codes to check that the fighter was in working order. She swung herself into the cockpit, lowering it with one hand while her other rammed her helmet on.

" _Ready to go_?" Uncle Luke's voice crackled through the comm.

"Ready as I'll ever be," she replied, starting up the engine. "To Cloud City?"

" _You're coming with me_?" There was an element of surprise in his tone, and Jaina realised that her uncle had been wondering what her course of action would be.

Jaina looked sideways, staring through the transparisteel of their cockpits, and found him looking directly back at her. Her uncle. "Of course. You'll need all the help you can get."

" _Right. Let's go_."

And with that, the two fighters lifted off, turning as they shot up into the misty sky of Dagobah. Far below, Jedi Master Yoda watched, his expression unreadable.

"Think they will succeed, do you?"

Obi-Wan Kenobi stood by a large tree, the shimmer evident about his Force-ghost. "Luke is not yet fully trained, and the shock will be great. Jaina, however… she shows signs of having survived a brush with the Dark Side. She will hold her own."

* * *

 **The Sword of the Jedi quote is taken directly from _Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: Destiny's Way_ by Walter Jon Williams (Del Rey Books, 2002).**


	3. Right Always Triumphs

_Chapter III: Right Always Triumphs_

* * *

The two fighters drifted lazily in the empty space over Dagobah, their pilots silent as they each programmed the course for Bespin into the computers.

"Right, I'm ready to go when you are," Jaina piped up, resting a hand on the joystick, the other pressing her comm mike slightly closer to her mouth. "Luke?"

" _Hmm_?"

"You're strangely quiet… and something feels off. In the Force."

She heard his sigh over the comm. " _The New Jedi Order… did they make you pass the trials?_ "

"The trials are probably a bit different to what Yoda has in mind. Enlighten me?"

" _He sent me into a cave, down there. On Dagobah. I saw Vader. I fought him._ "

Now she understood. Her uncle was one step closer to discovering his heritage. Of course facing Vader — even a hologram version — would have unsettled him. "If it makes you feel any better, I faced the cave as well, and my twin brother."

" _What did you see_?"

For a moment Jaina did not reply. The memory of her trials had come back to her, including the person she had faced in the cave. "Kueller."

" _Who_?"

"It doesn't matter. But you won't be the last to stumble in the trials, Luke."

Silence, and then he murmured assent. " _Shall we go, then? Cloud City_."

A minute later, the two starfighters leaped into hyperspace, disappearing from the Dagobah system.

R2 beeped, and Jaina sat up. On her display, the astromech was telling her that it was time to emerge out of hyperspace, and she re-engaged manual control of the spacecraft.

" _No, Threepio's with them. Just hang on, we're almost there_."

Jaina knew better than to ask; he was probably talking to Artoo. Dead ahead, the shining city of Bespin was approaching, the clouds about it seeming to part.

They set their fighters down on the nearer side of the city, and Jaina noted the _Millennium Falcon_ on a raised platform bearing the numbers 327. That meant her parents, Chewie and Threepio were here.

 _What if Dad's getting carbonated right now?_

It took all her willpower not to abandon Luke and run into the city to rescue her parents. It wouldn't help them — in fact, it might only make matters worse. And right now, Luke needed her more.

 _Although I don't know what I'm going to do to help him. He needs to meet Vader here._

They left their helmets in the fighters, Jaina leaving her R2 unit to monitor the X-Wings, and they entered the city with a quick stride, Artoo trailing behind them. Both took the opportunity to look around curiously at the plain white and brown walls, transparisteel windows built in here and there. From the entry doors, three corridors branched off in separate directions, and Jaina looked to Luke for guidance.

Silently, he lifted two fingers and gestured down the middle corridor, and she nodded, one hand on the hilt of her saber. A strange presence was poking at the corners of her mind, and she knew it was Vader. She had closed herself off completely in the Force, so as far as the Sith Lord was aware, Luke was the only Jedi aboard.

A shout rang through the halls, and they took off at a run, skidding around a corner. Several stormtroopers were herding a group down the corridor, away from them, and a short woman in the back whipped around at the sound of Luke and Jaina's footsteps.

 _Mother_.

It was Leia Organa Solo, albeit younger and unmarried. Leia, before she had become Jaina's mother. "Luke! Luke, don't — it's a trap! It's a trap!"

Whatever else she might have been about to say upon seeing Jaina with Luke died on her lips as a stormtrooper pushed her through a door which hissed shut behind them, and they were gone. Exchanging a glance with Luke, Jaina took off towards the door, her uncle hot on her heels. She skidded to a halt and used her open palm to bang on the door, but it did not budge.

"Jaina. This way." Luke had managed to open the door to a nearby anteroom, and Jaina cautiously followed him inside.

Every step took them closer to Vader.

Inside the room, the lights were dimmed, with only small bulbs lighting the path amongst numerous pipes and steam. They moved forward slowly, Jaina behind Luke, her hand back on the hilt of her lightsaber. Memories flooded back to her, of infiltrating the worldship on Myrkr with Jacen, Anakin and the rest of the strike force.

 _Anakin, who died at Myrkr._

"You okay?" Luke whispered, halting for a brief moment to look back at her, and she nodded, taking a few deep breaths. In her mind, Anakin's face had appeared, young and carefree, as he had been before the war.

"Just remembering my youngest brother," she murmured. "I told you he died when he was seventeen."

Her uncle put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and then the platform they stood on jolted, disconnecting from its surrounds and beginning to rise. The comforting hand left her shoulder as Luke drew his lightsaber, although he did not yet ignite it. The air temperature was dropping, and the dark force Jaina had felt earlier was ever more insistent.

With a clang, the platform stopped its ascent, and Luke took several deliberate steps forward. Jaina remained where she was, letting the shadows hide her. Vader could not be allowed to see her just yet.

"The Force is with you, young Skywalker. But you are not a Jedi yet."

Darth Vader moved out of the shadows at the top of the stairs, his long cloak billowing about him, the black mask illuminated by his red lightsaber. Jaina could hear the steady breathing that the machine behind the mask allowed, and she shuddered.

And then they clashed, blade on blade, her uncle and her grandfather, Jedi Knight and Sith Lord.

It had begun.

The duel had moved into the reactor shaft, and still Jaina moved in the shadows, watching the fight unfold.

 _Not yet. Not yet._

And then Luke was hanging off the gantry by one arm, howling in pain. Jaina gritted her teeth, knowing she was about to witness the moment that would change her uncle's life forever.

"There is no escape. Don't make me destroy you. You do not yet realize your importance." Vader was advancing on him, red lightsaber drawn. "You have only begun to discover your power. Join me and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy."

"I'll never join you!" Luke's shout was one of defiance.

The Sith Lord's mechanical voice sounded almost pitying. "If you only knew the power of the dark side. Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father."

"He told me enough! It was you who killed him!"

"No." Another step forward, and Vader dropped the bombshell. "I am your father."

It was done. Luke stared at Vader in disbelief, and Jaina unclipped her lightsaber. It was nearly time that she face him: the Sith who was more machine than man. Who had once been Anakin Skywalker.

In the meantime, the truth had sunk in to Luke's psyche, and the expression on his face was one of horror. Vader's hand was out, beckoning his son, but Luke seemed unwilling. "No," he whispered, and then he let go of the gantry.

Jaina suppressed a gasp, watching Darth Vader step up to the railing to observe Luke's fall. The time was now.

With a _snap-hiss_ , her purple lightsaber hummed to life. She drew in a deep breath as Vader turned, keeping her mind closed off to the Sith. If her plan was to work, he must not know who she was.

"Another Jedi?" He sounded equal parts surprised and shocked. "How can this be? I killed Obi-Wan Kenobi three years ago, and Luke Skywalker is the only other…"

"Then you thought wrong, Vader." To her surprise, her voice was calm, with an edge of steel. "You may have might on your side, but we have right on ours. And right always triumphs."

This seemed to strike at something inside Vader, and he surged forward: their sabers clashed, red on purple, and she found herself staring into the grille of his mask. "I have not seen a purple saber for nineteen years," he rasped. "Who are you?"

"Jaina." She ducked, making him swipe the air above her, and rolled away. It reminded her of fighting her twin brother aboard the _Anakin Solo_. The part of the story she hadn't told Yoda and Luke.

And now, she was fighting another family member.

"That is insufficient information." In the corners of her mind, she felt him probing for more information, trying to ascertain who she was. For the first time in nearly two decades, Vader did not have the edge.

"Anakin." He froze, hearing his former name from the lips of the stranger Jedi. "It isn't too late. There is still time. Turn, and turn again."

"Who are you?" he thundered, as she circled him slowly, deliberately, both hands on the hilt of her saber.

Her chocolate-brown eyes flashed fire at him. "That doesn't matter. What does matter is that you are Anakin Skywalker of Tatooine. A Jedi Knight of the Republic. And I don't think you've ever forgotten that. You've never truly lost your sense of being that man."

"I am _not_ Anakin Skywalker!" He came at her again, but she blocked him. "I am Darth Vader."

 _I've fought one Sith Lord, I can fight another._

"What does that mean?" she challenged. "What does that give you that being Anakin did not? Your wife is dead — your sole aim for turning being to _save her_! and she gave you a son, who lives still!"

At this, he seemed to waver, the grip on his saber faltering. "My… my family does not concern you," he said, but he sounded unsure. "You have no business talking about my family!"

"You don't sound very confident," she gave back, her eyes darting briefly to the right, mind already calculating her exit strategy. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that the dark side is losing its hold on you - or perhaps it never had a hold on you in the first place?"

When he lifted his saber again, she rushed at him, dodging at the last moment to roll towards the door. Her plan was already half-formed in her mind: she would flee to her starfighter, set course for Haven and allow her mother and Lando to rescue Luke.

History had to take its course.

She felt the anger a split second before she was lifted off her feet and slammed into the wall beside the door. Gasping for breath, she struggled to her knees, mentally tallying up her injuries: she was pretty sure that her right shoulder was sprained, at least.

"You cannot be allowed to leave," he thundered. "The Jedi must be eliminated — you amongst them!"

Something in his voice gave her pause, and from where she knelt near the door, she looked up and across the room at him. Her grandfather. " _Them_? But — Luke is the only other remaining Jedi!"

Vader advanced, his red saber flashing menacingly. "Then explain to me — Jaina — how it is that his powers have increased since first I discovered his Force potential?!"

Jaina forced herself to her feet, using the wall as leverage and taking deep breaths. "The same way the first Jedi must surely have trained themselves, Anakin. You killed your own Master four years ago — who else is left? The Emperor condoned, even ordered, the Jedi Purges and ensured that none were left alive."

"He was _not_ my Master!" Vader's ire was aroused at the mention of Obi-Wan. "Obi-Wan Kenobi was a Jedi who set himself far above his abilities. He merely showed me the way to the Force, and from there, the Force brought me to my destiny."

There was no pressing the point now, Jaina knew, and she took a deep breath, gathering her strength. She'd need it, if she was to get off Cloud City alive.

Seeing Vader skitter backwards, towards the control panelling, gave her an eerie flashback to Jacen's last stand aboard the _Anakin Solo_.

 _What is it with me fighting family members?_

There was no more time to reflect, however, turning and unconsciously pushing the putting to open the door, constantly aware of Vader's movements behind her.

Despite her sprained shoulder and a possible bruised knee, she managed to follow the same path back to the hangar that she'd come in by. She was pulled up short when she reached the massive doors upon seeing a group of Imperial Stormtroopers blocking the path to her fighter. There was no way she could fight her way through a group of this size.

She had no choice.

Turning, she sprinted in the direction of the external landing platforms, following the signs. Platform 324, 325… 327. The door was already open, and she could see the thrusters of the _Millennium Falcon_ firing, preparing for takeoff.

Every step felt like torture, but at last she hurled herself onto the ramp just as it began to close, rolling into the entrance corridor. As the ship lifted off, Jaina simply curled into a ball, letting the familiar smells and sounds of the ship engulf her, and cried.

* * *

 **I'm sorry I've taken so long to update; I got caught up in university work, sports and life in general. But I have a two-month break and I plan to make some headway on this story!**


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